GJA1 and aceruloplasminemia: Astrocyte-specific Cx43-ablated mice have been shown to exhibit reduced motor performance (Frisch et al., 2003), similar to ODDD patients suffering from cerebellar ataxia; yet, astrocyte-targeted deletion of Cx43 does not affect viability or astrocyte morphology nor does it cause neurodegeneration or astrogliosis (Theis et al., 2003).